


My Way or the Highway

by TheDumbestAvenger



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Gen, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, Kidnapping, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26789914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDumbestAvenger/pseuds/TheDumbestAvenger
Summary: Peter hadn’t thought a photography project could ever go quite this wrong, but now his friend's lives hung in the balance.Whumptober 2020 ChallengeDay 3 - Prompt "My Way or the Highway" - Manhandled | Forced to Their Knees | Held at Gunpoint
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946023
Comments: 10
Kudos: 145
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	My Way or the Highway

**Author's Note:**

> Part 3!!! Thanks for all the kudos and lovely comments so far :D
> 
> Hey look, it's the right day for once! From now on each fic should be unless I oversleep (which is actually quite likely) 
> 
> *Warnings*  
> Kidnapping | Gun Violence

“I can’t believe you guys made me do this,” Flash whined as he traipsed after the group. MJ was in the front, then Ned and Peter, Flash brought up the rear. “Look! Just look at my shoes, they’re ruined. These cost more than your whole apartment does, Parker.”

“I’m sure you can get Daddy to buy you more,” Peter shot back. He hiked up his backpack of camera equipment they’d borrowed from Midtown’s photography department and followed Ned through the trees. They brushed past an exceptionally flexible branch, Peter released it as Flash approached and it sprung back, smacking him across the face.

“Ah!” Flash yelped, batting his hands in front of his face and slapping the branch. “Get it off! Get it off!”

Upfront, MJ guffawed. “Dude, it’s a branch. Chill out.”

Flash opened his eyes and muttered something under his breath when he realised it was, in fact, just a branch. He ducked underneath and jogged to catch up. “Are we close, yet? We’ve been walking for ages.”

“Ten minutes,” MJ corrected, “And yeah, it’s just up here.”

“I wish I’d never taken this dumbass class.”

“We all do.” MJ clearly wasn’t having any of Flash’s typical bullshit today. Flash seemed to get the message and remained silent.

Ned, who until this point had been happily following MJ, cleared his throat and spoke up. “Remind me why I’m here again?” 

“We need another model since  _ Eugene _ ,” Peter shot a death glare back over his shoulder, “refuses to actually help with this project.”

“And since you’re the only other person we know, the decision was easy,” MJ added.

Ned nodded. “Sweet.”

The dense copse of trees slowed down their journey, as did the fact the only light came from their phone flashlights, but MJ insisted this spot down by the river was the perfect setting for their photos. Peter looked up, through the leaves and criss-cross branches he could make out a sky full of stars not obscured by the lights of the city. Maybe he’d photograph them too, for himself, not the project.

A jolt ran up his spine, setting each of his senses to high alert. He cast around, eyes straining to see through the trees for danger. Nothing. Not that he could see or hear, anyway, it was probably just a raccoon or deer skittering home for the night. His spidey-sense had been a little - well - sensitive ever since Titan, so it was no doubt an overreaction.

Still, it left Peter unnerved.

Ned, MJ, and Flash were back to arguing about who was or wasn’t contributing to their work. Peter tuned them out, his mind drifting to the mountain of homework he should’ve done earlier today, but didn’t because he chose to go patrolling instead. Thought about how he was going to hide that mountain from Tony and May who were always telling him school had priority over Spider-Man.

Just as he came to the only logical solution -  _ shred it all and deal with the consequences later _ \- his spidey-sense flared up again, not as abruptly, but no less disturbing. 

“I let you come to  _ my _ house, use  _ my _ laptop, to edit those photos!”

“You made me leave my shoes  _ outside _ the front door because you thought they were dirty.”

“Guys,” Peter cut in, “did you hear that?”

“They  _ were _ dirty, MJ. I could see  _ dirt. _ ”

“Someone stole them-”

“Shut up!” Peter shouted. Everyone turned to look at him; he pressed a finger to his lips. Ned’s eyebrows knitted together, he was the only one who knew about Peter’s spidey-sense, while Flash’s eyes grew comically wide. MJ’s expression stayed as stern as ever.

A twig snapped behind them. Flash shrieked and jumped into the air, flinching away from the sound so violently he stumbled and hit the floor. A hand shot out of the trees by his head and clamped down over his mouth. With muffled screams, Flash writhed under the firm grip, trying to free himself, no one else moved. They could all see something Flash couldn’t.

The barrel of a gun, glinting in the light from Peter’s phone. Flash only stopped fighting when it pressed against his temple.

“Everyone does as we say,” a disembodied voice growled, “and Speedy here gets to keep his brains inside his head.” Whoever it was paused, waiting to see if any of the kids were going to make a move. They didn’t. Peter was too far away to get to Flash in time, and who knew how many more could be lurking in the dark. “Good choice. Now, slowly, lights off, throw them behind you. Bags too.”

Ned and MJ’s lights went out almost instantly, followed by the far-off thud of their phones hitting the ground some distance away. Peter was frozen to the spot; his eyes fixed on Flash’s. 

“Peter,” Ned whispered. “Just do as they say.” After a moment longer, Peter squared his jaw, turned off the torch, and threw it into the trees. Slowly, he reached a hand up to his rucksack strap and eased it off his shoulder, placing it at his feet, then held his hands up.

Peter heard two more people coming up from behind but knew better than to turn around. One of them grabbed both of Peter’s arms and held them behind his back. Casting a glance at the others, he saw a tall, bulky figure with one hand squeezing MJ’s arm, the other Ned’s, a cruel grin on their face. The person holding Flash dragged him to his feet, gun still pressed against his temple, the mini torch on his shoulder lighting a small distance ahead of him. He nodded towards the guy holding Ned and MJ. “Lead the way. Boss will want to see this.”

“Let’s go, Pretty Boy,” Peter’s captor hissed in his ear. “Nice and easy, and you might just get to keep your life.” She chuckled, sending a shiver down Peter’s spine and he flinched away from the sound. “Shame you can’t keep those lovely eyes, though. Not after you’ve seen Boss.”

She shoved Peter forward, not caring that he could barely see the uneven ground and kept tripping over his own feet. Each time he did, her grip only tightened, reaching the point where tears pricked his eyes.

After what felt like a year of stumbling through the darkness, roughly jostled through trees, they emerged onto a riverbank. People bustled about in every direction under the brightness from four metallic, bright white lights hooked up to a central generator, wires running through the dirt. A collection of tables contained an abundance of weapons, ranging from small and discreet handguns, to what looked like landmines.

_ An arms deal _ .

Someone marched over to them, her face wrapped in a balaclava and an automatic rifle strapped across her chest. She eyed up the four kids, then jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “Line ’em up by the river.”

Peter’s captor kneed him in the back to get him moving again and hauled him through the camp, gaining stares from pretty much everyone at the place. Once they’d reached the river, she pushed him to the ground; he barely got control of his arms in time to stop himself falling in. Ned, MJ, and Flash sprawled next to him.

He looked up at the three assailants, eyes burning with rage, but before he could react, one of the men reached down and yanked up the front of his shirt, forcing Peter to his knees. “Hands on your head,” he barked. “All of you, now. Or Pretty Boy gets it.” The cold circle of metal that was the barrel of his gun burned against Peter’s forehead. He screwed up his face as the others clamoured to do as they were told, Peter placed his own hands on the back of his head.

The gun moved away, though Peter could still feel where it had touched. “Not a word. Don’t even look at each other,” the man ordered. He moved to stand behind Peter; the other two captors stood at either end of the line, guns in hands.

Peter didn’t know how long they stayed like that. He watched the arms deal, trying to figure out who ‘Boss’ was, and how he could get his friends out safely. As for the first part, just past the edge of the light, barely visible, stood a man surrounded by at least five armed guards. He leaned on the bonnet of an old, rusted car, back turned, and it looked as though he was scribbling something down. A good candidate for ‘Boss’ in Peter’s mind.

Getting out proved a much more difficult puzzle to solve, not least due to the thirty strong crowd surrounded by every weapon known to man. He hated to say it, but it seemed impossible.

To his left came the stifled sniffles of Flash as he, too, realised the finality of their predicament. Peter didn’t blame him in the slightest. His own eyes welled with tears.

For the first time, Boss moved from the car. He surveyed the arms deal with something that resembled pride before he and his goons made their way over to the kids. Peter’s heart leapt to his mouth as he came closer, the lights illuminating his face just enough for Peter to recognise him.

_ Adrian Toomes. _

Peter didn’t even know he’d got out of jail, he thought Toomes had been handed a life sentence and shipped off for a permanent visit to the Raft. Yet here he stood, back at his old tricks.

There was a dangerous glint in Toomes’ eyes as he met Peter’s glare, though, to Peter’s surprise, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just moved on to stand in front of MJ. “Liz always liked you,” he said, somehow making his voice quiet yet terrifying at the same time. “Said she admired how you always told the truth, so tell me, Michelle,” hearing him say her name made Peter want to rip him to shreds. “What do you think I’m going to do with you?”

MJ stared up at Toomes, her face indomitable, eyes filled with hatred and not a hint of fear. “Dump our bodies in the Hudson.”

Toomes chuckled and clapped his hands together. “She  _ was  _ right, wasn’t she, my Liz. Well, that’s certainly an option. I haven’t decided yet. Thank you for the input, I’ll take it into consideration.” He turned his attention to the guard behind Peter. “I heard Bassett needs an extra set of hands.”

“Yes, Boss.” The guard stored his gun and jogged to the tables, giving Peter a kick in the side as he passed for good measure.

“Well,” Toomes looked directly at Peter, “I’ll deal with you later.” He turned and walked back, his entourage surrounding him once again.

Peter watched them go, the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. Only two guards left, and they were quite a distance from the gathering. If he could just find a way to take them both out quietly…

“Flash,” he hissed, not moving his head at the risk of alerting the guards. “Flash.” This time, Flash jumped slightly, he must have heard. The guard to his left thought nothing of it. “Tackle her legs, don’t let her fire. On my mark.”

Flash couldn’t respond, he was too close to the guard, and she’d get suspicious if he nodded or spoke. Peter just had to trust that Flash had heard him and was up to the job. He closed his eyes and took a long breath, both to prepare himself and to give Flash the time he needed.

He breathed out, and jumped to his feet, using the momentum to backflip over Ned and MJ - praying they’d both stay silent. Twisting mid-air, he landed in front of the guard and landed an uppercut square on his chin. Peter caught him under his arms as he fell, sinking to his knees to quietly lay him down.

Flash was being too loud. He lay on top of his guard, struggling to overpower her, one hand covering her mouth and her gun knocked to the side. Peter ran over, half crouched to be as discreet as possible, and kicked her across the head. She fell limp under Flash. He scrambled backwards, muttering frantically under his breath. Ned reached him first and pressed a finger to his lips. Flash nodded his understanding, chest heaving with heavy breaths.

“This way.” Peter beckoned them towards the river. The bank sloped sharply downwards and afforded them a fragment of cover from the arms deal.

“Now what?” MJ asked.

Flash held his hands out. “Hang on, are we going to gloss over the fact I just saved your asses?”

“I don’t know,” Peter admitted, ignoring Flash’s comment. “I didn’t get that far through with my plan.”

“Great.” MJ sighed. “Now we just wait here until they notice we’re missing and come to kill us. Stellar plan, Peter.”

“Hey, I think he did a pretty good job!” Ned exclaimed to a chorus of shushes.

“Thanks, man-  _ Shit. _ ” Peter heard footsteps approaching where they had been. It was only a matter of seconds until they found-

“Hey! Hey, the kids are gone!”

There was a moment of silence, dead silence. Not even the sound of people negotiating prices or the crunch of footsteps could be heard.

“Fuck!” Toomes bellowed. “Fan out. Find the little bastards or so hope me  _ you’ll _ be the ones at the bottom of the Hudson.” Everyone exploded into action, shouting and grabbing weapons in the search for the kids.

_ The bottom of the Hudson. _ That gave Peter an idea. “In the water, now!” He crouch-ran into the river and waded out until he had to tread water, the other’s following close behind. “Dive when someone gets too close. We’ll be able to see their torches through the water.”

It didn’t take long; the most logical place to start the search was the riverbank. Five men ran down, torches scanning the ground. Thankfully, the chill autumn air had hardened the mud bank, so there were no footsteps to be seen.

“Now,” Ned whispered as a searchlight strayed out into the ocean. Peter took a deep breath and sank below the surface. The beam of light passed overhead seconds later. They looked between each other, suspended in this other world where everything was tinted green and sounds were muffled.

From what they could hear, there was shouting.  _ Lots _ of shouting. And a deep, strangely familiar rumbling. The light disappeared, and they plunged into darkness. 

Peter exploded to the surface, gasping in air alongside his friends, wet curls dripping water into his eyes. He brushed them back and turned back to face the bank where-

Where a Quinjet had landed, the Avengers pouring out of the open door. Peter watched as the criminals fled, only to be cornered by the Iron Legion emerging from the trees, trapping them in. “Come on,” Peter said, his teeth chattering from the cold. He struck out, swimming back to the land.

“Kid?” Tony - in his Iron Man suit - saw them coming in and ran over. “What-?” He dematerialised his suit. 

Peter ran forwards and barrelled into Tony, wrapping his arms around him and holding tight. “I’m so glad you’re here, Mister Stark.”

“Got word Vulture was playing his old game again.” Tony rubbed his hands on Peter’s arms, trying to warm him up, as he looked between the other students. “What about you.”

Peter pulled away, hugging himself in his own arms, and shrugged. “Photography project.”

“That’s quite some photo,” Tony chuckled. He turned to address them all. “Take your jumpers off, shoes and socks too. They’re wet; it’ll only make you colder. Hop in the jet.”

They did as Tony said, just stepping inside the jet felt warmer than the crisp, night air. Peter looked down at the puddle they were dripping on the floor and hoped Tony wouldn’t be too mad at them. Ned took in everything with awe; MJ’s eyes fixed on Peter. Flash just seemed lost.

“I thought you were making the Internship up,” Flash muttered. “Sorry, dude.”

Peter shrugged again. “It’s nothing,” that was true, Flash’s taunts were often the least stressful part of his day. “You did a great job back there. We’d probably be dead if that hadn’t worked.”

Flash smiled and stood a little taller, his chin up.

Outside, the Avengers bustled about, rounding up the criminals and carting them off with Ross’ men as they arrived. Tony climbed aboard the jet, clapped his hands together. “I’ve got the go-ahead to take you guys home,” he said, heading for the pilot’s chair in the cockpit. “I’ll swing back later for the others. Now, seeing as you decided to take a dive in the river, are you all up to date on your shots?”

**Author's Note:**

> A happy ending or make up for yesterday's fic, I'm still sorry about that, btw.
> 
> It would be awesome if you could drop a kudos or comment to let me know I'm on the right track here :D Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
